NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Bishop Tells Priest to Stop Holding Masses at Elm

Episcopal Bishop Frederick Borsch said Thursday that he has directed a North Hollywood priest to stop celebrating Masses at a diseased elm in North Hollywood where crowds continue to gather before what some say is an image of the Virgin Mary on the trunk.

Father Barry Verdi attracted about 1,000 people to the tree when he conducted a service in front of it on March 26. “There is always the danger that miracles will distract Christians from the call to service and we must therefore be very cautious about such matters,” said Borsch, who heads the Los Angeles Episcopal diocese.

Verdi said he will heed the advice. Some Episcopal priests in the San Fernando Valley had expressed dismay that Verdi encouraged beliefs that the tree displayed a weeping representation of Our Lady of Guadalupe. An arborist who examined the Chinese elm last week said the discoloration on the trunk that worshipers say resembles traditional portraits of Mother Mary was caused by sap seeping from a diseased spot where a branch had been cut off.